System and method for matching electrode resistances in OLED light panels

Abstract

Provided are an OLED device and a method of manufacturing the OLED device that may provide improved luminance uniformity. The disclosed OLED may have a first electrode that has a first sheet resistance Rs, and a second electrode that has a second sheet resistance, wherein the second sheet resistance may be in the range of 0.3 Rs-1.3 Rs. In addition, the disclosed OLED may have a plurality of equal potential difference between points on a first electrode and a second electrode. The equal potential difference may be provided by a gradient resistance formed on at least one of the electrodes.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of fabricating an electrode for an organic light emitting device, comprising:
 obtaining a first electrode material source; 
 disposing the first electrode material source over a substrate; 
 arranging the substrate on a substrate jig at an angle θ relative to a line normal to the substrate from the first electrode material source, where 0<θ<90°; and 
 depositing the first electrode material from the first electrode material source onto the substrate to form a first electrode having a non-uniform thickness. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thickness is greater on one end of the first electrode and decreases gradually to the other end of the first electrode. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 depositing a plurality of layers of the first electrode material through each of a series of shadow masks, each shadow mask in the series of shadow masks having a smaller area through which the electrode material is deposited than the previous shadow mask in the series. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 passing the substrate through a plurality of positions in a linear deposition system; and 
 at each position, depositing the first electrode material over the substrate at a different thickness and over a different portion of an area of the substrate than at each of the other positions. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , further comprising moving the substrate through the plurality of positions at a varied speed to cause the electrode material to be deposited at a different thickness at each position. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 depositing the first electrode material to form an electrode contact for an electrode on a single edge of the electrode. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 disposing a mask between a deposition device used to deposit the electrode material and the substrate concurrently with depositing the first electrode material over the substrate. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first electrode material is deposited over the substrate in multiple passes of the substrate beneath a deposition device used to deposit the first electrode material over the substrate. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first electrode material is deposited over the substrate in a single pass of the substrate beneath a deposition device used to deposit the first electrode material over the substrate to form the first electrode. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the depositing the first electrode material is performed within a linear vacuum deposition system. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 selecting the non-uniform thickness to result in a selected gradient resistance of the first electrode after deposition of the first electrode material. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 moving the substrate relative to an electrode material deposition device at a constant rate.